Mayor Bloomberg: End ‘shoot-first’ laws

New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, one of the faces of national gun-control efforts over the last year, made a fresh case against Florida’s gun laws Sunday on the heels of the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the Trayvon Martin shooting death.

“Sadly, all the facts in this tragic case will probably never be known,” Bloomberg said in a statement.

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“But one fact has long been crystal clear: ‘shoot-first’ laws like those in Florida can inspire dangerous vigilantism and protect those who act recklessly with guns. Such laws – drafted by gun lobby extremists in Washington – encourage deadly confrontations by enabling people to shoot first and argue ‘justifiable homicide’ later.”

He added, “Last year, I joined a broad coalition of civic leaders to shine a light on the impact of ‘shoot-first’ laws and work to eliminate them, in Florida and wherever they have been passed. We will continue that work – and the tragic death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed child attempting to walk home from the store, will continue to drive our efforts.”

The phrase “shoot first” is used by critics of Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” laws, which allows people to use deadly force if they have reason to believe they’re facing bodily injury.

In the Zimmerman case, neither the defense nor the prosecution ultimately used “Stand Your Ground.” Zimmerman’s attorneys last year said that would not be their theory of the case, and they presented a conventional self-defense strategy.